I don't know how accurate that is, here is another site with an SXT tested and it did 17.66 in the 1/4 mile and the last one showed 17.7 for an R/T in the 1/4 mile.

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Sp...iber&trimid=-1

 

17.7 eh.....I didn't need to know that

 

I wonder if that was on a fully broken in car or not, I knew it was slower than the 1st gen neons, but didn't think it was that much slower.

I wouldn't expect their to be much of any difference between the SXT and R/T, I didn't notice any real difference on the ones I test drove, the R/T has more hp but to much junk in the truck persay (an extra 200+lbs. from the engine and drivetrain) so it ends up with the same power to weight ratio as the SXT.

 

Here is info on the pontiac vibe. It only has a 1.8L engine though.

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Sp...l=Vibe&trimid=

It does 18.11 in the 1/4 mile.

I really don't care about how fast the Caliber goes, It is definately not a sports car and that is not why I am buying it. Now the SRT-4 version should be respectible.

I can't wait to get my Caliber I ordered, but I know if I pull up next to just about anything at a stop light, I should just crank up the MusicGate stereo and enjoy the nice ride. I think with the CVT Transmission, this vehicle will have terrible 60 ft. times no matter what you do to the engine besides a turbo which even then the turbo needs to spool up so it will help top end more. These cars will never launch off the line. Also the R/T with AWD has more weight and I don't think the Calibers have to worry about needing AWD to stop wheel spin.

Later

Mike

 

Yeah, it is definatly not a sports car, though the problem is it's a small compact car, the type of car people buy for costs reasons, both cheaper loan and much better fuel economy due to the smaller engines, and you know they are trying to push that by the fact of the CVT, but the lets face it, the fuel economy sucks on it too, 26/30 for a 2.0 with a CVT, vs the 10 year old drivetrain from the 1st gen neon, 2.0L DOHC with a 3 speed auto with no overdrive got 25/33, 29/38 with a 5 speed manual, newer compact cars with worse perforance should be getting better fuel economy not worse. What's even worse is on the highway a caliber with a little 2.4L 4 cylinder and a CVT is only 1MPG better than a LX model with a 5.7 hemi and a 5 speed auto, definatly something wrong with that picture.

The car itself is great, the drivetrain though, I guess saying that's what you get when you co-design a drivetrain with Hyundai pretty much sums it up. I could live with the slower acceleration if I got the expected good fuel economy you asociate with slow compact cars, but the R/T is about as fast as a Scion xA, the difference being the scion gets 31/38 not 23/26. Dodge would have been far better off sticking with their own drivetrains.

 

I don't see how anyone can compare the Neon to the Caliber as far as gas milage goes. The Caliber weighs a lot more, sits up higher, and the R/T drives 4 wheels instead of 2. Of course its not going to get anywhere near what the Neon did. I'm not so sure the CVT is the culprit for the less gas milage, but rather the increased weight and height. I remember my 2002 Neon ES would run at nearly 3000 RPM with the 5-Speed manual going 70MPH, and the Caliber I drove only did around 2500 RPM. The CVT keeps the car where it has the most power, unlike an automatic which you would have to wait for it to shift, then have it wait too long to shift, then not shift enough or too much. Automatics just plain suck, but thats just my opinion.

 

True, it does sit higher and is heavier, but that still doesn't acount for how poor the fuel economy actualy is, a Magnum R/T also sit's high, is about 800lbs. heavier, has a much bigger engine (even when it kicks down to 4 cylinders it's still bigger at about 2.85L) and only has a normal 5 speed auto (CVT's are suposed to give an 8%? increase over a normal auto), even if you compaire the AWD magnum R/T which is around 1000 lbs. heavier it's still only 2MPG difference highway, 24 for the Magnum, 26 for the Caliber, a difference of 8% meaning without the suposed CVT advantage the 172hp 2.4L in a vehicle 1/2 ton lighter only get's as good highway fuel economy as a 340hp 5.7L, that just doesn't add up right to me, there is definatly some major problems there. honestly at that point about another $3k will get you a magnum SE which has about the same performance, a lot more room and better fuel economy 21/28.

Now don't get me wrong, I do like the car, it's just the powertrain that sucks, the rest if it is a great car. of course the power train issues could be ok if dodge could get their weight issues under control, I mean honestly but are they lead lining these car incase you're near nuclear plant when it melts down? cause they are insanely heavy for how small they are, there's no reason for a car that small to be over 300lbs., even with AWD.

 

I disagree... I think thats exactly why its milage is not on par with the Neon. The Magnum has more than enough power to carry it around so it can easily weigh more and still make up for that because of the amount of the power it has. Not to say that the Caliber is under powered, like I said, the R/T seemed to have more than enough power. Also keep in mind that everyone is reporting gas milage with BRAND NEW engines. Lets wait until later this year and see how they're doing. Both my Stratus and my Neon got far better gas milage after driving it for a year. I could care less what EPA estimates are, because they're not very accurate and again, they're tested on new engines. We can go round and round here, but the CVT isn't the problem. If Dodge put a 4 or 5 speed automatic, I'll bet the farm that it would get the same gas milage.

 

The HP advantage could very well hold true for the R/T magnum but the not the SE, the SE is still 500lbs. heavier than the Caliber R/T and only has a 190hp 2.7 V6 and a 4 speed auto, it has a worse power to weight ratio and only a 4 speed and still has better fuel economy and about the same performance, actualy the more I look at it the more the CVT seems to be the culprit, it's the main thing that stands out as to what could be causing it.

 

Well you better look again.... An automatic would NOT make any difference what so ever....